Tim Walz talks whoopie pies, Super Bowl rings, and little about policy in first solo trip to Pennsylvania

LANCASTER — In his first solo trip to Pennsylvania as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz talked whoopie pies, apple cider doughnuts — and how Democratic turnout in Pennsylvania’s majority-red counties could determine who will be the next president.

Walz and his 23-year-old daughter, Hope Walz, both sporting camouflage hats, started their day campaigning in Pennsylvania by visiting two stops in Lancaster County, a majority-Republican county that in 2020 voted for former President Donald Trump by 16 percentage points, or a difference of more than 44,000 votes. He later flew to Pittsburgh to visit a milkshake shop just outside the city, and visited a farm in Fayette County.

Democrats believe turnout in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s two major cities, and the now-reliably blue counties surrounding Philadelphia won’t be enough alone to win Harris the White House. They are also hoping to increase their margins in majority-Republican areas to win the key battleground state with the most electoral votes — and are looking to Walz’s folksy approach to appeal to voters there.

“It’s not hyperbole to say this election could very well hinge on this county here, this field office here, and the folks that we get out,” Walz said to a crowd of supporters in the basement of the county’s Democratic Party headquarters in Lancaster, a small city of approximately 58,000 people 80 miles west of Philadelphia.


https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/tim-walz-campaign-lancaster-pennsylvania-20240904.html